3EFFERSON CITY, TN -- The Trojans came up with a big-time five set win over Carson-Newman University to solidify their place as the No. 3 seed in the upcoming South Atlantic Conference Championships. Anderson finishes the regular season with an 18-9 overall record and a 13-5 record in the SAC and have won 13 of their last 15 games.

"This was a huge win for our team and for our season," head coach Todd Hay said. "It was a little nerve racking in set 5, I'm not going to lie, but I think the composure of the team was better than mine. Fortunately we made the plays on defense at the right time and our offense clicked pretty well all night."

It wasn't an easy win as the Trojans battled through 29 tie scores and 14 lead changes and the final set was decided by just two points.

Several Trojans stepped up, with three hitting career-highs in different categories.

Sophomore Ellie Nieporte, who leads the SAC in assists per set, dished out a career-high 62 assists and 14 digs.

Last week's SAC Offensive Player of the Week, graduate student Libby Nieporte, led the offense with a career-high 23 kills on a .306 hitting percentage and 11 digs.

Sophomore Sophie Deese led the defense with a career-high 22 digs.

Sophomore Ava Reeves was just two kills short of her career-high with 22 kills on a .333 hitting percentage.

Senior Brantley Chipley was clutch in the middle with 16 kills on a .500 hitting percentage.

With the win, the Trojans will host the No. 6 seed in Lincoln Memorial in the SAC quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 19th at 7 p.m. The two teams met for the first time this season just one week ago and the Trojans took the win in straight sets. 

"Very proud of the team for such an important and exciting win," Hay said. "See everyone on Tuesday for SAC quarterfinals."